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Voodoo Omen

Fashion changes fast. The design of 2008 was not necessarily what people would fancy as good design today. Also, taste is subjective. But if the design of a pc case is timeless AND build on all the best principles of good airflow and easy access in mind, it will attract most users.

Now, Iīve seen what you can do in here. You are not "users", some of you guys are bad-ass, high skilled craftmen that can do ANYTHING you want to!

I, on the other hand, am not that gifted. But already in 2003, I wondered why the internal architecture of a pc just kept contradicting all the principles of airflow through the years, I mean..heat wants to go up, making the parts horisontal blockers, so why not turn the motherboard 90 degrees and help it on its way with fans on lowered settings? Finally, in 2008, the guys at Voodoo released this beauty..the Voodoo Omen:

Reminds me of some old ITT and B&O hi-fi racks and radios from the 70s (which are very rare and expensive today)

YouTube interview and showcase videos:

Unfortunately, the prices started at 7000$ and ended at 20K and HP chose to close Voodoo down. I have not managed to get in contact with anybody owning this computer, but this case is freaking awesome and I can't get it off my mind. You could use and look at this case for 10+ years and just change the internal components. Itīs like a G5 PowerMac case on stereoids! It is made of 8mm thick aluminum and the reservoir is refilled from the top just behind the little 7" inch screen in the front. The sides are held in place to the chassis by magnets. When you take the sides off the case, light powered by batteries are turned on.
Also, I have found out that Silverstone made these cases, no wonder they follow the same principles today in their Raven and Fortress lines.

Yet, it might not be as simple to replicate. The chassis and the sides seem simple to do, but the radiator in the bottom with additional radiators and copperpipes with connectors all around the edges must be very challenging to make.

I just wonder why nobody ever tried to make a similar case, maybe I am missing something?

EDIT: Sorry, cannot get the images to work, had to post them as links.

Re: Voodoo Omen

I knew someone on the battleground europe forums with two of them, one for him and one for his wife, came in a billeted metal looking case, with a charcoal foamy inside that the computer sat in, with spots for the cables keyboard and s@#t like that.

I can ask if they still have them, although i'm pretty sure he won't come up off of them for nothing hahaha.

Re: Voodoo Omen

This is just my own thoughts on a strictly theoretical level - but I might bring the hype about this case down a bit. If you look at that LCD display in the front..really, what is it for? I know for a fact, it is powered and run via USB, and USB is only active once Windows is loaded. So much for using it for BIOS and POST...

I looked for similar displays today, but as the technology has taken quantum-leaps forward since 2007, a hdmi-plugged touchscreen would make much more sense today in 2012, and I also found one cheap.

But I canīt find a reason for using one? Need input from equal-minded nerds.

Re: Voodoo Omen

LCD screens are awesome . . . but I'm with you. As much as I love the idea of having an LCD screen or even touch screen (more useful) on the front of something like a HTPC, I can't imagine myself using it that often. I have to be next to my case to touch it, and from any distance I wouldn't be able to resolve what is on the screen.

Now, a dockable LCD remote for a HTPC might be better, but when I'm using the remote, the hole in the case can't be ugly.

Still, an LCD (from a modder's standpoint) can be great as a case badge. You can put whatever you want on it; cool images, menus, etc.

Re: Voodoo Omen

Still, an LCD (from a modder's standpoint) can be great as a case badge. You can put whatever you want on it; cool images, menus, etc.

Hmm - good point. The next level casemod: fully covered in displays, each day = new paintjob

Actually, there is more. The custom rads placed in a "square circle" around the perimeter of the case, can only mean vertical installation of two radiators in the sides. Unless these radiators have their own fans + and the fans blowing cool air from the buttom are able to push this air further up and out in the top, I am not sure it would add to the cooling very much, if anything?

Also, how would one really connect the watersystem in this case? I dont know anything about water, but it must be 2 separate systems running 2 radiators - one for the gfx, and one for chipset and CPU or what?

Re: Voodoo Omen

Originally Posted by synergi

Actually, there is more. The custom rads placed in a "square circle" around the perimeter of the case, can only mean vertical installation of two radiators in the sides. Unless these radiators have their own fans + and the fans blowing cool air from the buttom are able to push this air further up and out in the top, I am not sure it would add to the cooling very much, if anything?

I'd mount the radiators on the outside somewhere in or behind the cabinet it's going to sit inside or on since its a HTPC it'll probably rarely move.

unlike my desktop which just might be the most traveled computer in oklahoma.

but anyways i'd guess it'd stay cooler, so the fans wouldn't have to spool up so high, and it leaves room for bigger components or keeps the form factor down.

Re: Voodoo Omen

thar' be no law against having 4' exit and entry loops.

Twigsoffury, do you mean 4 seperate loops with 4 pumps, rads etc?

PS: I like your idea of the fractal designed cooling block

Anyway, I need knowledge on this, so I have been vacuuming the net for more info on this issue. Serial or parallel solutions, and especially serial connected radiators, are appearently a no-go. Something about all radiators following the first in a serial connection would prove ineffective, thus obsolete+bad for the flow. Parallel loops would be better, but a Y-splitter might cause turbulence and stall the flow. Whatever..can't be done, should'nt be done.

However, I wrote everything down what Raul Sood says about this sophisticated monster pc - and I just found out there is only one huge radiator installed (in the bottom of the case ) and the reservoir is in the top, right behind the lcd display. And mandrel bend copper-pipes(!) behind the panels are connecting the loops.

So...could it be, the copperpipes are running from the pump and down to the first loop (CPU and Chipset blocks mid-front) and then into the radiator in the buttom, exit the radiator and up the back of the case, looping through the watercooled PSU in the back top - and then loop 3 would be the Gfx in the mid-top, returning the water to the reservoir?

I have NO experience with watercooling whatsoever, I would'nt know if something more effective has come up since then, or how the watercooling in this Voodo Omen is done Would the above guess on how the loop is done make good sense in water-cooling terms, or would the flow drop too much with only one pump for this?

Re: Voodoo Omen

Found one owner out of the only 25 Omens sold, who is remodding his Omen after a leak. The original placement of hardware and construction is exactly how I figured it would be in that relative small case:

Not sure about the original display, but I found a 7" display with resistive touch-screen to match today's standards sold at eBay for 100$.

I figure, it would run the temperature control software of either Koolance's TMS-205 with extra board or Alphacool's Heatmaster II solutions.

If I were to redo this case, I would not install all the bling-bling around this case - water-cooled PSU, 16 mill colour variations of internal light - or the display, for that matter. To me, it should be what it looks like - a monolith of discretion. So I am building a sketchup of the original the exact measures, and my own, larger version for future reference:

A container for future hardware configurations through at least a decade, that will keep cool and work no matter what you throw at it, only for 1/4 of the price VoodooPC took.

EDIT: I am not able to get in touch with the owner of the pictures, as his email is blocked somehow. I do not claim ownership of these pics, just resized and hosting them.

Re: Voodoo Omen

Originally Posted by synergi

Fashion changes fast. The design of 2008 was not necessarily what people would fancy as good design today. Also, taste is subjective. But if the design of a pc case is timeless AND build on all the best principles of good airflow and easy access in mind, it will attract most users.

Now, Iīve seen what you can do in here. You are not "users", some of you guys are bad-ass, high skilled craftmen that can do ANYTHING you want to!

I, on the other hand, am not that gifted. But already in 2003, I wondered why the internal architecture of a pc just kept contradicting all the principles of airflow through the years, I mean..heat wants to go up, making the parts horisontal blockers, so why not turn the motherboard 90 degrees and help it on its way with fans on lowered settings? Finally, in 2008, the guys at Voodoo released this beauty..the Voodoo Omen:

Reminds me of some old ITT and B&O hi-fi racks and radios from the 70s (which are very rare and expensive today)

YouTube interview and showcase videos:

Unfortunately, the prices started at 7000$ and ended at 20K and HP chose to close Voodoo down. I have not managed to get in contact with anybody owning this computer, but this case is freaking awesome and I can't get it off my mind. You could use and look at this case for 10+ years and just change the internal components. Itīs like a G5 PowerMac case on stereoids! It is made of 8mm thick aluminum and the reservoir is refilled from the top just behind the little 7" inch screen in the front. The sides are held in place to the chassis by magnets. When you take the sides off the case, light powered by batteries are turned on.
Also, I have found out that Silverstone made these cases, no wonder they follow the same principles today in their Raven and Fortress lines.

Yet, it might not be as simple to replicate. The chassis and the sides seem simple to do, but the radiator in the bottom with additional radiators and copperpipes with connectors all around the edges must be very challenging to make.

I just wonder why nobody ever tried to make a similar case, maybe I am missing something?

EDIT: Sorry, cannot get the images to work, had to post them as links.